Caracas is considering all options to strengthen its cooperation with Rosneft, Venezuela's Vice President for Economics and Finance, Minister of Industries and National Production Tareck El Aissami said on the sidelines of the SPIEF-2019.
He added that he hadn't had a separate meeting with Rosneft's chief Igor Sechin, noting that they only met during the forum.
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Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world. The United States imposed sanctions on Venezuela's oil and gas giant PDVSA in late January. The move came amid an ongoing political crisis in Venezuela. At the beginning of the year the country's opposition leader Juan Guaido proclaimed himself interim president following a phone conversation with US Vice President Mike Pence.
The US, Canada, and several European countries have voiced their support for Guaido, while Russia, China, Mexico, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Iran and Turkey have reiterated their solidarity with President Nicolas Maduro.